Origin

The word curate, ‘an assistant to a parish priest’, comes from medieval Latin curatus, from Latin cura ‘care’ (because the parishioners are in his care), the source of a number of words including cure (Middle English), curator (Late Middle English), accurate (late 16th century) ‘done with care’, and secure (Late Middle English) ‘free from care’. You can describe something that is partly good and partly bad as a curate's egg. This is one of those rare expressions whose origin can be precisely identified. A cartoon in an 1895 edition of the magazine Punch features a meek curate at the breakfast table with his bishop. The caption reads: ‘BISHOP: “I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones.” CURATE: “Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!” ’ Only ten years later the phrase had become sufficiently familiar to appear in a publication called Minister's Gazette of Fashion: ‘The past spring and summer season has seen much fluctuation. Like the curate's egg, it has been excellent in parts.’